Husband charged with murdering wife in Hatfield

HATFIELD TWP —A woman is dead after what authorities term a “domestic-related homicide” in Hatfield early Friday morning and her husband is in custody.

Walid Esmat Mitwalli was arraigned at 9 p.m. Friday before District Judge Walter F Gadzicki Jr. on charges of murder in the first degree and possessing an instrument of crime with intent, according to court records.Bail was denied and he was sent to Montgomery County Prison.

Mitwalli then called 911 around 3 a.m. and said his wife came at him with a knife, which he allegedly took from her before stabbing her, according to the press release.

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Responding officers reportedly found Mona Mitwalli on the floor of the family room of a home at 2938 Denbeigh Drive in Hatfield lying in a pool of blood, the press release said.

Police and county investigators cordoned off the home with police tape, and investigated the home — with all curtains and window shades lowered — for nearly nine hours before removing what appeared to be a body wrapped in white sheets and strapped to a gurney.

The body was loaded into a van belonging to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, which left the scene shortly before 12:30 p.m.

Throughout the morning, police guarded the front entrance — a wooden door with block letters spelling the word “Love” — and a side garage door to the home.

As they stood guard, investigators — all wearing gloves, and some wearing white body suits — entered and left the home.

An autopsy on Mona Mitwalli was scheduled for Friday, according to the D.A.’s office.

Montgomery County property records show Walid E. and Mona M. Mitwalli purchased the house in June 2011.

According to the district attorney’s office, the couple began having marital difficulties that culminated in a divorce filing by Walid Mitwalli on April 9.

“Then on April 11, 2013, the defendant used the Montgomery County Mental Health System to have the victim involuntarily committed; however, after Mona Mitwalli met with a doctor she was released following a finding that she was not in need of treatment and simply

involved in a domestic dispute,” according to the press release from the D.A.’s office.

The following day Walid Mitwalli filed for a protection from abuse order in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, according to the D.A.’s Office. That petition was denied by a judge after an April 18 hearing.

A neighbor who asked not to be identified said he knew the owner as “Wally,” and said the couple had two young children — twins who are either 5 or 6 years old — in a private school.

That neighbor added that he noticed police activity outside the home around 4 a.m. Friday and saw the children leave shortly thereafter.

“It’s sad. It’s a sick world,” he said.

A preliminary hearing for Walid Esmat Mitwalli was scheduled for 10 a.m. June 17 before District Judge Kenneth E. Deatelhauser.

The investigation into the murder is ongoing. Authorities are searching for a DVR system that was missing from the home. Anyone with information regarding the system is asked to contact Montgomery County Detectives or Hatfield Township Police Detectives.

Dan Sokil of the Lansdale Reporter and Online Editor Eileen Faust of the Pottstown Mercury contributed to this report.